Death Always Changes Things
by AnAmericanMom
Summary: This, at least for now, is just a one-shot of my perception of things between Sookie and Eric after Godric "met the sun" I'm toying with adding more chapters to this, changing things around a bit after Sookie returns home.
1. Take Care of Him?

**_AN: Well fans, this is my first time dipping into True Blood fandom, let me know what you think! I promise I have not abandoned my other WIP's, I am just still facing a bit of writer's block on their particular plots. I don't know if this will become more than a one shot, it truly depends on the reviews and possible suggestions y'all might have? I've thought about carrying this train of thought over into the things Sookie and Jason face upon returning to Bon Temps. Delving into Sookie realizing that Bill's blood has just as much influence as Eric's has had -difference being that Eric hasn't tasted her, yet. And yes some dialogue is taken from episodes, slightly twisted to suit my purposes. I don't own True Blood or it's characters... Though, don't we all wish we owned Eric? mmmm... yummy immortal viking.. _  
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**Death Always Changes Things**

**Chapter One**

Her heart breaks for Eric, standing at the top of the stairs as she watches the moment between Eric and Godric. She watches him sink to his knees, weeping as he pleads in a language she does not understand. It is his tone and the sobs that tell her he is pleading, the broken expression on Godric's face, that lets her in to the amount of pain they're both experiencing. She cannot explain, even to herself, why she longs to go to him now. A large part of her longing to wrap her arms around him and take away his pain, a feeling he would sense from her were his own not so over powering. She takes his hand briefly, offering the only comfort she can for the moment. "I'll stay with him, as long as it takes."

_You'll care for him, Eric?_ The concept seems utterly foreign to her. Take care of Eric Northman? Is such a thing even possibly? Is it conceivably necessary? Her response doesn't even register in her own ears, the feeble excuse of Eric's temperament, but she frowns as Godric takes that responsibility unto himself. Yet, part of her had expected as much of him. In the short time she has known Godric, and of him, since the plan for his rescue began to unfold, she had known that their relationship would be like this. Somehow, she had known that Eric's relationship with his maker is beyond anything she can fully conceive, and yet something she is all too familiar with.

The words spoken between them were not important. At least, not as important as the words they are not speaking. As with all vampires she has encountered, she cannot hear Godric's thoughts, yet they are written more plainly across his alabaster features as the sun slowly begins to rise behind him. She can feel the love Godric has for Eric pouring off of him in waves, and it is this, coupled with the end that is only moments away for him, has tears spilling down her cheeks. To keep the subject off of his child she inquires about the death he is waiting for. "Are you very afraid?"

"No, I am full of joy!" The smile that alights his deathly, pale features is childlike in nature.

She looks down, only slightly, trying to pull together some sense of composure as she takes a half step towards him. She listens as he remarks upon the oddity of a human being with him in comfort at the end, the fact she cries human tears for him. It never occurs to her that everything she is feeling for him now, Eric is experiencing in excess. It has yet to cross her mind that he is enduring not only his own personal pain at the loss that is moments away from taking place, but every emotion that ripples through her as she waits with Godric. "A human with me at the end, crying human tears, for me? Two thousand years, and I can still be surprised. In this, I see God." He reaches up, his hand ghosting against her cheek as his gaze dances towards the rising sun, then to the stairs where Eric had exited a short time before. "Don't be too hard on him. He will reveal his true reasons for the deceit, miss Stackhouse. Be open to it." He places a feather light kiss to her forehead, turning half way towards the rising sun, watching as the sky changes before them –something he hasn't seen in centuries.

She watches as the sky turns from a faded gold and pale blue, to the brilliant crimson and burnt sienna of the dawn, as Godric turns from her and walks towards the edge of the roof. He discards his shirt, letting it flutter to the ground behind him, as his body becomes engulfed by brilliant blue flames. Her hand flies to her mouth, resting against her parted lips as her tears spill silently down her tanned cheeks still. She utters a soft goodbye before there is nothing left of the ancient vampire, the one to give _her _ a new perspective on vampires as a whole and especially a specific, manipulative, Viking vampire.

She stands on the roof of the **Hotel Carmilla** for near half an hour, until the sun has fully risen, before she descends the stairs and quietly closes the door at the bottom of them. She pauses for a moment, taking in the sight of the empty hall, before making her decision. She isn't entirely sure she can explain to herself, or Bill later, why she does not return to the room she shares with him now. She assumes he is dead for the day, will remain unaware of the time it takes for her to return to the room, if she returns, before sunset. Instead, she finds herself outside Eric's room.

The door to his room is cracked open, a golden glow spilling out into the hall, it appears to her almost as if he had been waiting for her to come to him. As if he had known, even before the made the choice.

She steps slowly, cautiously, into his room, approaching him silently only to be startled by the sound of his voice. "Godric's gone." It isn't a question, not even really a statement, but more a final broken cry. The startling red rivers that curve along his porcelain cheek and against his marbled chest tell her he's been crying, alone, while she spent those last moments with his maker.

"I'm so sorry, Eric." She says, in no more than a whispered sigh as she closes the remaining distance between them. Tentatively she reaches up, warm tan fingertips alighting against his stained cheek before sliding down beneath his chin. Gently she attempts to tilt his face up to meet his gaze with her own, knowing that if he does not wish it to happen there will be nothing she can physically do to change it. So, she is surprised when there is no resistance. She finds she is even more shocked by the way her heart feels as if it is shattering when she finally sees those startling blue eyes –red rimmed in bloody tears. What do you say to someone like Eric in a moment like this? She's nothing more than a human. She can't even begin to understand the bond Eric has now lost with Godric's passing.

He cannot fathom why, maybe it is the overwhelming grief, but he leans his cheek into the warmth of her simple touch. His blue eyes searching hers, locked in place and he feels as if he is drowning in her eyes. It is as if he is drowning in not just the emotions she's feeling but the compassion that's radiating off of her –for him. It is something he can't comprehend. In the thousand years he's been around, he's never felt anything like this. He has never experienced the things he is now with anyone else, save for maybe Godric. Yet, he knows even it is not the same. He feels a sob chocking him, he fights it, trying not to let it overtake him. Eric closes his eyes suddenly, the delusional belief that he will be able to regain control if he's not staring up at her, the face of the only person who feels as if she may hold even a sliver of the same depth of affection for him that Godric had.

Though she cannot feel his emotions in the same way that he can feel hers, she's spent enough time grieving to understand this act –shutting ones-self down, putting up a wall. The fingertips which had frozen beneath his chin, the moment he allowed her to lift his gaze and meet her own, moves against his right cheek. Her left hand joins her right, curling against his left cheek as she cradles his face between her small, warm, hands. Sookie's thumbs brush softly against the drying tracks of blood along his cheeks as she leans her face towards his. She presses her warm, silken, lips against both of his closed eyes, then the drying tears against his skin before pressing a final kiss to his forehead, speaking softly against his skin. "It's okay to mourn him, Eric. There's no shame in it. I know I can't truly understand the pain you're feeling, the loss of your maker, but I do know a little of loss. I know I'm no more than a lowly human to you, but I can be strong for you in this, if you'll let me. Or, I can go get Pam." It is not until she says the words does she realize the gravity of the moment. The fact that she had found him here alone, that his child had likely already turned in for the day, that his grief has only been shared with her. She had been the one to see him pleading with Godric before he was commanded to leave.

Her words, the mention of Pam and the status of her own mortal coil, causes his eyes to snap open again. His hands move to cover hers against his cheeks in a movement that is instantaneous. "Don't go." Is the first of his words, a plea similar to the one he had made to Godric, though he hopes for a less painful reaction to it this time around. He does not allow himself the time, right now, to question why he would plead with her to stay. He simply chooses to selfishly beg it of her, and he can feel his, long dead, heart constricting with the possibility that her shocked expression and silence is the predecessor to the rejection of his plea –what he deserves for manipulating her earlier in the evening. "Please," He adds a second plea amidst her silence. He removes his hands from hers, resting them against her hips as he tries, more gently than he's ever done anything in a thousand years, to pull her body closer to him.

"Okay," She finally squeaks out when she feels his hands against her hips. Her own hands move from his cheeks, one arm wrapping around his shoulders, her other hand cradling the back of his head as she pulls his face to rest against her flat stomach. She hugs him against her as the sobs, like those she'd witnessed from a distance on the roof, begin to shake his entire body. "I don't completely understand the depth of what was between you, it's nothing like what I saw between Bill and Lorena, or you and Pam… But, I know that he loved you, and I can see why." The last few words are hardly more than a breath, something that even his vampiric hearing would have lost, if he wasn't currently pressed into her stomach.

That seems to pull him from the sobs, at least for the moment. He pulls back just enough that he can look up at her again, shimmering blue eyes searching her face as he speaks, his voice shaking and accented more thickly than she's heard from him before. "Why, Sookie? After… With all that I have done to you, put you through. Why did you come? Why did you stay with him?" He cannot help questioning it, after his trickery after the explosion. Sure, he'd done it with reason, but none of which she knows yet or is likely to grasp.

"Oh, I'm still ticked at you over that, but I've seen, these last few days, that you are more than that. There is more to you, Eric Northman, than the snobby, underhanded, manipulative –than the vampire you've shown me before. When Godric went missing I started to see you differently, I just didn't _want_ to admit it. Then, in the last few minutes I spent with Godric, I started to see you through him." She doesn't mention that it felt as if she was standing with his father as he died, as if he were Eric's father and he was asking _her_ to take care of him after he is gone. After all, she's not naïve enough to think that Godric's death will completely change Eric. She's utterly certain that only tonight will be different, or today technically. "You should have someone here with you. Make no mistake, I am not here out of pity or obligation. I _choose_ to be here as long as you'll let me in."

He smiles, slightly, instead of the smirk her usually carries as a near constant expression. It's the first genuine smile he's ever shown another being outside of Godric from the moment he was turned. The next words pass his lips in soft sincerity, utterly shocking to them both, "Thank you, Sookie." He lets his forehead come to rest on her stomach again, arms wrapping around her waist as he pulls her body tighter to his own. The sound of her heart is oddly comforting, and for the moment his walls remain down –he remains vulnerable to her.

Her fingers sift through his hair in a silent, soothing gesture as he holds onto her. It is the only movement she makes for over an hour, before the silent spell is broken by the cry of the cell phone she'd forgotten in the pocket of her sundress.

She pulls from him with an apologetic expression as she answers it, "Hello?" It hadn't occurred to her to check the caller ID, but then she didn't entirely disentangle herself from Eric either. She keeps her hand in his hair, as his tired body rests against her stomach again, only slightly paying mind to her conversation. "Yes, Jason. I'm fine."

"_Are you with Bill?"_ Eric could hear her brother asking on the other end of the line. Vampire hearing often came in handy for such things, hearing both sides of a conversation.

"Bill?" She pauses, feeling as if she'd forgotten him on some level, the moment she entered Eric's room. "No, I'm not. I haven't seen Bill since last night. I followed Eric and Godric just before sunrise and…"

"_Oh, Sook… No, you know, never mind. Just, um, be careful, okay?"_

"After everything recently, are you seriously still on about -?"

"_What? No, Sook, I actually just called to tell you that I talked to Bill last night. I know I can't make up for everything, but I want to try. I'll not stand in the way of someone who loves you, as long as you're happy. Just, don't shut me out, okay?"_

She can feel the tears filling her eyes, part of her feeling as if she's betraying Bill by still being with Eric as Jason reminds her that Bill loves her. At least, well, he does… Right? She shakes her head slightly, trying to ignore the confusion for now. "Thanks, Jason. Listen, I need to go for now. I'll come by your room and see you later though, all right? I still need to figure out the arrangements for getting home."

"_Just, get some sleep. We'll figure everything else out together after Bill wakes up or something."_

"All right, and Jason?" She pauses for a breath, closing her eyes against her tears for a moment. "I love you."

"_I love you too, Sookie."_ As soon as she closes the phone she slides it back into her pocket, taking a deep breath to settle her own emotions and return to offering comfort to the Viking vampire still clinging to her. She'd felt him stiffen when they were discussing Bill, but he seems relaxed now.

She slides her hand from his hair, curling it against the side of his face as she tilts his head to look up at her. "Come with me?" She watches, amazed again as he does nothing more than nod in silent agreement and stand up in front of her as she takes a step back to give him room.

Sookie leads Eric into the bathroom across from his bed, motioning for him to sit down on the edge of the enormous tub as she grabs a wash cloth from a rack on the wall. She turns on the faucet, running warm water in the sink since it seemed as if her own warm skin brought comfort.

He watches her, brows creasing together in confusion at her actions. His eyes never leave her as she closes the distance between them. Eric flinches in surprise, when she touches the cloth to his chest first, whipping away the bloody tears that are already drying on his alabaster skin. It is as if he is frozen, encased in marble, as she cleans every trace of his tears from his skin with the lightest touch. He cannot help but wonder if she thinks him fragile now, in this moment at the very least.

When she is done she rinses the cloth out in the sink, hanging it back up to dry, expecting Eric to go back to bed and sleep for the day. Instead, when she turns around she finds he is still on the edge of the tub, still frozen in place. She cocks her head to the side, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Shouldn't you sleep now?" She doesn't really know what happens to a vampire, should they stay awake during the day, as Bill has never once done so in her presence.

He looks down, swallowing and taking a deep, un-needed, breath –the actions strangely almost too human for him. To be this open, this vulnerable, in the presence of anyone, human or otherwise, is uncharacteristic of him. Yet, he finds he cannot help himself. He's already asked her to stay once, and now he finds the desire to beg her to remain until sunset.

He remembers, a distant thought, that she's recently lost someone, someone important to her. No, it isn't the same, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is the closest that he wagers a human could truly understand the pain and loss he's experiencing now. "How can I?" He chances a look up at her. "How did you sleep after a great loss?"

The question catches her off guard, eyes widening as she takes a half step back. A shuddering breath passes her lips as she tries to find her composure again, tries to figure out how to put it into words. "I didn't… At first. There…" She pauses, looking down at her hands as she shakes her head. She changes her course, choosing to leave out the fact it hurt too much to sleep, that she couldn't seem to rest alone, until Layfatte gave her drugs, of course.

"What did you do?" He knows that for a human to stay awake is nothing compared to what a vampire endures, should they miss a day of sleep. He stands, closing the distance between them again in the blink of an eye. His hand alights upon her cheek, sliding down her jaw with a feather soft touch before he cups her chin and tilts her head up, finding solace in her eyes as he awaits her answer.

She releases a nervous laugh as she looks into his startling blue eyes. "I let Layfatte give me valium." She feels him stiffen, just a little, at the mention of her friend's name. Yet, the fact he had kept him chained in the basement for weeks doesn't cross her mind just now as it does his.

"Where was Bill?"

"At his place, during the day at least." She looks at him more intensely now, trying to piece together his odd bit of curiosity. Why is he trying to figure out how she had handled the moments after Gran's death? She decides to try and offer him as much understanding and solace in words as she can. "I would have given anything to have someone hold me, when Gran died, to tell me the lies I needed to hear. But, Bill couldn't do that." She shrugs off the words, as if it doesn't matter that she hadn't gotten what she needed when she'd needed it, regardless of the multitude of reasons things were as they were. She turns her head then, pressing a kiss to the palm of Eric's hand.

He changes the topic, slightly, as he brushes his fingertips along her bottom lip after the chaste kiss she places on his palm. "Let's mourn or losses together, Sookie. If you will permit me, I will hold you today as you hold me. We will tell no one, if you prefer it kept a secret." After all, he couldn't care less if Bill were to know that _he_ is providing his girl with the support she has needed as she gives him what he needs. In truth, he is too amazed that he has allowed himself to be so vulnerable, in front of a human no less!

She nods, not trusting her voice at the moment, as she follows him back to his bed. She crawls in beside him, facing each other as she wraps her arms around him. Her fingers brush over his cheek softly, she can see the tears forming his eyes before they slip down his porcelain cheek again. She wipes them away before letting her hand rest against his cheek, molding itself perfectly against his marbled skin.

He felt the dampness on his skin, before seeing the crimson hue marring her flawless skin. He knows it has only just begun, the pain seeming as though it's burning him from the inside out. He sits up, pulling her with him and surprised by the lack of hesitation on her part. He tugs gently at the fabric of her dress, lifting the light weight fabric up over her head and exposing her skin to him, leaving her in only her undergarments. His fingers trace against her skin softly; from her neck, down along her collar bone, then to the space between her breasts. His hand moves back up, no intention of taking advantage of the bond he created with her earlier on, the manipulation to try and level the field between himself and Bill. He is simply finding comfort in the things which make her human, the things that draw him to her in a way he has never been drawn to another.

They lie down once more as he guides her onto her back. He can feel her apprehension, her fear that he is about to take advantage of the lust his blood has created in her and their mutual vulnerability. But, to the surprise of them both, he doesn't. He wraps his arms firmly around her, his cheek coming to rest between her breasts, his ear directly over her beating heart as his grip tightens. His arms cling to her as if she is the only thing holding him to this world now that his maker is gone.

She can feel the silent sobs wracking his body, her arms hesitantly wrapping around him before they tighten against him. Sookie's fingers dance across the flawless expanse of his back, nails grazing his marble skin as she whispers words she hope will bring him comfort. "He really loved you, Eric, and he cared about you. He'll always be a part of you, never truly gone, you know?" She takes a breath, kissing the top of his head as she runs her fingers down the side of his blood stained face before grazing her nails up and down his spine. In this moment, she feels something she's never felt with anyone, even Bill. She remembers Bill's words, vaguely, how Eric's blood would make her feel attracted to him. Yet, would it not have been the same thing when she had Bill's blood? It occurs to her, oddly in this comfortable moment, that all Eric has really done is level the playing field. He has given her a chance to figure out how much of what she feels towards either vampire is real, or something a result of the blood shared amongst them.

As if he can hear her thoughts, Eric looks up at her, tilting his head so as not to remove it from her warm skin and beating heart. "Would you be here now had I not tricked you into tasting my blood, Sookie? Would you have still been with Godric?" Pam had warned him away from Sookie from the start, and the more time he spends with her like this, the more he truly thinks he understands his child's warning. It isn't her blood that draws them in, it's _her_.

She answers him without hesitation, "Yes. I would have followed you both to the roof, even if you hadn't tricked me. Your blood, what of it that flows in me now, has nothing to do with the choices I have made since. I could see the choice Godric made before he voiced it, as soon as you knew it. I could see the pain his intentions were causing you, and as much of a jerk as you may usually be, Eric, it didn't make my empathy or my desire to ease your pain any less." She places her fingers against his lips when he looks as though he's going to interrupt her. She continues with a tired smile. "I think Godric knew it too. He knew you'd need me, even if I didn't think at the time that you'd allow it. He knew different."

"You came because he told you to?"

"No, his words simply gave me hope, that's all. Eric, don't you feel it?" She questions him, remembering what Bill had told her about being able to feel her emotions, sense her, the first time he tasted her blood. She knows Eric should be able to feel her sincerity, should he have any doubts.

"I don't know… I can't… I can't make sense of it. I don't understand the things I'm feeling, from you or myself. It's infuriating."

She can't help giggling at that, to see a vampire like Eric so agitated by something so utterly human, to see him with the same human confusion. She shifts, pulling the sheet and comforter over them, tucking it against his body and her own, cocooning their bodies together. "You need to rest now." Her fingers brushing away the blood that's coming from his nose now instead of his eyes with the edge of the sheet.

"I must ask you to promise me something, Sookie." He pauses, waiting until her gaze meets his own, sapphire eyes pleading and commanding all at once. "Do not leave before I wake, promise me."

"I'll be here." She brushes her fingertips down over his eyes, seeming to pull his lids closed with the feather light touch, like her Gran used to do for her when she was young. She waits until she feels him go completely still, as if he has died in her arms, finally allowing the day to take him, before she falls asleep herself.


	2. Isn't Anything Simple Anymore?

_**AN: Wow! Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! I honestly never expected quite such a response! It has inspired me to continue on with this fic and exploring things between Sookie and those around her -especially a certain sexy Viking Vampire! I'm working on Chapter Three, not sure how long it'll take me to get it up, though reviews definitely fuel my muse! Not to mention watching the show while reading the books... I'll probably be mixing things a bit from each side as I go along, events from both and such. I hope you enjoy chapter two as much as the first!**_

**Chapter Two**

It has been two days since Godric met the sunrise, and two days since he acquired the best rest of his entire existence –if not the most confusing too. In conclusion, it has been two days since he last saw Sookie Stackhouse. It had hurt him, more than he was willing to admit at the time, to watch her and her idiot brother return to Bon Temps with Bill in tow. He could see things between the couple were not the same either, she had changed and even Bill was not blind to it.

He had to give her credit though, smirking as he recalls her superb acting skills when it came to keep Bill in the dark about everything. She even convinced her brother to agree to her tale, that she had spent that day with Jason and he was the reason she never came to their bed. Part of him ached, still does, for the fact she took him at his word and kept the truth a secret from everyone, save for Jason. He understands why she had to do it, but it did not keep it from bothering him immensely.

Things have settled back into their normal routine at Fangtasia, though he is not as into it as usual. The only one sharp enough to notice this of course is his child, Pam. Their bond allowing her to be all too aware of the fact something is troubling her maker, deeply. She says nothing of this, of course. That is, until she sees an even more dramatic change in him upon waking at the end of the second day since Dallas. She can see that something is troubling him more than it had been before, which she knows means that something is wrong in Bon Temps.

She does not get the chance to voice this of course, as Sam Merlotte is already waiting for them, announced by Ginger. "Oh, hell." She rolls her eyes as they take audience with the shifter. "This explains everything."

"Indeed. Pam, go with the _shifter_ back to Bon Temps, I will be there shortly." He turns to Sam then, the disgust in his voice all but hidden, "I will personally see to this problem of yours. Make no mistake, you will owe me. You may not be able to _give_ me what I want, but you will ensure that I have no interference from the humans. Understood?"

Sam clenches his teeth, knowing he'd normally rather die than stand aside and allow another vampire to try for Sookie's affections. However, he knows in this case he is powerless. Without Eric's help they may all be lost. "Understood, but don't force her into anything, it's the only thing I ask."

"I would prefer her willing as well, but don't let that little fact become common knowledge. Excuse me." He nods briefly to Pam, silent instructions clear as day before he literally takes flight.

He arrives in New Orleans, the path leading to the door of the Queen's home, just as Bill arrives. "Fancy meeting you here, Bill. I have a feeling we are here for the same reason."

Security interrupts, before Bill can retort and attempt to wipe the smug look off of Eric's face. "The Queen is expecting you both, she will see both of you now." He ushers them both in to the queen.

When they enter the room the queen is on her knees between the legs of a pretty little girl, barely more than eighteen it seems, blood dripping down her shapely legs as Sophie-Ann partakes and the girl beneath her moans in ecstasy. "Have we come at a bad time, your Majesty?"

Sophie-Ann laughs, pulling her blood coated mouth from the girl's thigh as she looks up at the male vampires. Her head cocking to the side as she observes. "To what do I owe the pleasure of both of you coming to see me? Surely you cannot both be here for the same reason?" Her brow arches, watching their reactions.

"Actually, I believe we may be. I suspect Bill is here, as I am, to find out what you know of Maenads, specifically how to kill one." Eric answers in his usual bored tone, but something in his eyes tells her there is more to the story than he's letting on.

"A Maenad in Shreveport, Mr. Northman? So, Bill, how does this concern you down in Bon Temps?"

"No, your Majesty, the Maenad is in Bon Temps. A _shifter_ alerted me to the problem. I assume Bill is here for the same reason I was alerted. It is targeting the entire town, intent on sacrificing the shifter as a matter of fact."

"Since when do you care what happens to Merlotte?" Bill interrupts, his expression hardening as he assumes this is not the reason for Eric's interest.

Eric's expression is smug as he rolls his eyes and ignores Bill completely. "I care little of what happens to the shifter, per say. However, we have a mutual acquaintance and I cannot allow harm to come to him without causing trouble with said acquaintance." He tries to play it off as nothing more than business, once more something in his eyes tells her there is more to it.

"I see, and what is so important about this acquaintance? I'm assuming it's a woman, yes?"

"It is. She is, an enigma. She has tasted me and the connection is stronger than with normal humans who have had my blood. Another friend of hers has also drank from me," His brow arches slightly, communicating something with her that Bill does not understand, "I am not as connected with her friend as a result of it and she had less of me."

"Non-sense! You are simply trying to take her for yourself, she is mine!"

As the two vampires look about to face off Sophie-Ann laughs, clapping her hands twice to get their attention as she says in a commanding tone, "Enough!" When their attention is back on her she lounges across one of the settees lazily, yet with grace. She is already well aware that the 'acquaintance' is Sookie Stackhouse, finding it entertaining that both Eric and Bill are so ready to go to war over the human girl. "Now, sit, we only have a couple of hours before dawn. We have time to kill, either of you hungry?"

"No, thank you, your Majesty." Comes the well timed reply from both.

"Both of you? Really? Mr. Northman, have you even tasted her yet?"

"I have not, and I am not mainstreaming either. I fed earlier in the bar. I would rather know what you know and get to Bon Temps to settle this."

"If she was in any trouble you would both be well aware of it, the tiniest hint of it with you, Mr. Northman, I'm sure." She motions for them both to take a seat as she lazily begins to tell them what she knows, randomly getting distracted by other bits of history in the telling of it, including many things Eric had been around for.

Bill has yet to return, though after Dallas Sookie is not entirely sure she's surprised. "Darn it!" She cries out as her phone vibrates on the patio table. A text from Bill, five hours after the fact. Figures. "I so getting a new phone as soon as Eric pays me," She mutters as she slams her phone shut continuing more loudly to Layfatte behind her. "Bill's not coming back until tomorrow night."

"So, we shouldn't hold our breath on him saving us then. You're working for Eric now?"

"I worked for him once, long story. Maybe I should call him, he's older, maybe he knows something." She doesn't wait for Layfatte to respond to her as she opens her phone again, stepping off the porch. It rings three times before his voicemail picks up. "Eric, it's Sookie. Look, I need you to call me the second you get this. I'll pay you for what I need if I have to, just call me back." She slams the phone shut, muttering about vampires and their needing to sleep during the day, which strikes Layfatte as funny.

"Ain't that a bitch? That's one of the downsides to involving yourself with those things, Sook." He shakes his head.

"Speaking of Eric, how's your leg?"

"Never better." His expression is sheepish as he looks away from her, still holding the shotgun tightly in his hands.

"How'd that happened?"

"Eric forced me to drink his mother-fucking blood is how that happened."

"Me too! He tricked me in Dallas, had me suck silver bullets out of him." She shudders, tilting her head down and peeking up at him curiously through her lashes. "Have you been having dreams?"

"Now, how the fuck would you know that?" He eyes her before rolling his eyes and looking up at the blue sky above them, idly thinking it shouldn't be so damn pretty when all hell is breaking loose in their town. "It's like, he's always in my head, you know? The sex dreams are…"

"Yea, I know." She looks down for a moment, tilting her head and starting to say something before she is interrupted by Mrs. Thornton.

Pam, as instructed, had followed Sam back to Bon Temps the night before, stuck hiding in the bar until nightfall. Her phone rings, alerting her to a text message from Eric. She rolls her eyes, slipping it closed as she looks to Sam and starts in a bored tone, "Eric will be here just after sundown. He says the only shot we have of getting this thing is for you to offer yourself, or allow them to think it is so."

"Excuse me?" Sam looks at her like she's suddenly turned human in front of him, trying to make sense of her words.

"The Maenad can only be killed when it is preparing to join with the god who comes, whatever the hell that means."

"How does he suggest we pull this off?"

Irritated, not wanting to play messenger, she hands him the phone allowing him to read the plan for himself. "He wants you to be certain you do not drink from anyone other than him. Especially _not_ Bill Compton. Are we clear?"

"Yes, but why does that matter to Eric?"

"He does not wish to put _Sookie_ into a position in which it is necessary to allow Bill to drink from her again, or him for that matter."

"Wouldn't drinking from him give him what he wants?"

"It would, but, for some foolish reason, he wishes to do it without any further trickery on his part. He feels he has leveled their playing field enough." She rolls her eyes sarcastically. The whole thing irritates her to know end.

"I find that hard to believe and more than a little disturbing."

"Indeed, he is going to level the playing field a little further, or maybe up his advantages and implore the queen to keep Bill there a little longer than necessary. After all, as Sheriff of Area 5 he has more business here than Bill does. Besides, the queen apparently wants to meet Sookie, the better chance of such a thing is through Eric and not Bill. After all, Bill has been known to hold her in secret, where Eric would have no problem flaunting her and being flaunted by her. He's capable of protecting her to an extent that Bill is not. It's all very complicated and downright aggravating."

He can see that it bothers her, the infatuation both vampires have with Sookie, but he does not voice it, pulling the subject back to the problem at hand, or trying to. His chance is stolen from him as Eric makes his presence known, though neither of them have even realized the sun has finally set.

Eric strolls into the bar, smoothing down his hair and adjusting his clothing once again as he steps in front of them with a slightly smug expression. "Shall we get this ritual over with? I must admit, it will be rather entertaining to watch you be sacrificed, _shifter_."

"That's what worries me, how do I know you'll actually let me live through this?"

"If you actually die in the sacrifice how could you possibly destroy this Maenad for us? No, it is far better for all concerned for you to survive this. Besides, Sookie would be rather broken hearted if she were to lose someone else, I'm sure."

Sam finds it odd that Eric would know anything about the losses that Sookie has suffered, but for now he says nothing of it. "Right, let's do this. Time to go offer myself to a Maenad."

Sam is a far more convincing act as an offering than Eric had expected him to be, watching as the shifter doesn't back out at the last moment, despite the fear that rolls off of him in waves. He watches from the shadows, not yet alerting anyone as to his presence, including Sookie. He's mildly disappointed, of course, that the queen didn't keep Bill long enough to miss all the festivities. At least he had been out of the way long enough to not be involved in the plan that is currently unfolding. While part of him is itching to be the hero in this tale, he has no delusions of being seen as anything more than an opportunist to her. What really surprises him is the fact that something like that matters to him!

He shakes his head slightly, dismissing the thoughts as he listens to Sookie scream in anguish now, though he external cries are nothing in comparison to the ones he feels from her through the blood she's ingested. A pang ripples through him, something he cannot fathom the cause of, for now he gives it no thought as he slips away from the edge of the crowd.

He keeps his distance now, still not wanting his presence to be known and waiting for Sam to shift back so that their plan can come to its completion. As he waits, he watches the Maenad chase after Sookie once she has destroyed the hideous thing she built, the sacrificial egg housed in rotting flesh. He starts to intervene, nearly making his presence known, when Sam shifts back, naked, in front of him and halts his advance. He will not admit as much, but he's grateful for the shifter's appearance. It prevents him from doing something he may later regret.

"It's about time, _shifter_." He spits the word out with venom dripping from his tone. It's a bit of an overkill, but he hopes it masks the grave mistake he has nearly made. At the last minute he had announced, to those involved, that, if they could manage it, his presence and roll in the events is not to be known –especially to Sookie.

"Sorry," Sam groans and stumbles towards Eric. "It's hard navigating through a mob of insane people as a rat!"

"Irrelevant, let's finish this." He bites into his own wrist, extending it then to Sam. As soon as he latches on and his blood begins to heal the shifter, he watches with a seemingly bored expression. In truth, his mind's eye is envisioning the day in which Sookie _chooses_ to drink from him. Yes, while he tricked her into it the first time, he longs for a day when it is a choice she makes of her own free will.

When Sam is finished, moving into the next phase of their plan, he brings his wrist back to his own mouth, sealing the wound as he considers the possibility of tasting her one day, by her request.

He growls, low in his chest, unheard by those nearing their position, as he shakes his head trying to dispel the thoughts again. The longing he feels is all but driving him mad as it is! Not to mention the fact he can't get their last day in Dallas out of his mind, regardless of how hard he tries.

He watches the scene unfold as Sam rams through the Maenad with his horn, shifting back as he yanks out her blackened un-beating heart. He cringes, the black blood that coats his skin from elbow to fingertips is rather sickening, making him glad he's not nearly the fool Bill is, thinking first with fangs. He can feel the shock and horror as it passes through Sookie as she witnesses the same scene, entirely unaware of his presence. His lips twitch, a scowl forming briefly across his features as he watches her hug the shifter when the deed is done.

"Oh, Sam! This was your plan all along, wasn't it?" Sookie exclaims, hugging him so tightly he's lucky to still get a breath. "But, how did you? I saw them stab you!"

"Easy, Sook." He kisses the top of her head, avoiding touching her with the blood coated arm. "I had a secret weapon, that's all."

"What secret weapon? You'd better tell me what happened, Sam Merlotte!"

The tears streaming down her cheeks, falling on the white fabric of the dress she'd been forced to wear, leaving noticeable wet spots. It's obvious she's tired of secrets, tired of being kept in the dark over the supernatural shit that happens every day when she's just as mixed up in it as the rest. He glances in the darkness, his expression silently pleading with said secret weapon, to either allow him the liberty to tell her the truth, or to come clean himself.

When Eric nods once, stepping back further into the shadows to observe her reaction to the truth, Sam sighs in relief and wipes the tears from her cheeks with his good hand. "Please don't cry, Sookie. The short version of things is this; I didn't know when you and vampire Bill were getting back from Dallas, and frankly I didn't want to deal with Bill to start with, so I went to Shreveport. I went and asked Eric Northman for help." He can't help chuckling as he sees the astonished look on her face, leading her slowly back towards her house as he continues, "I know, I know, I was a bit shocked at myself for doing it. It's no secret to them either that I don't particularly like them, so I was a bit surprised that Eric was willing to help. At the time I didn't know you were back, I just wanted things to be like they're supposed to be _before_ you came back. Eric must have known, didn't he? I think he actually wanted to avoid harm coming to you, he was genuinely concerned for you, even if he wouldn't admit it to the likes of me. I wasn't even supposed to tell you that he helped. Is it true though, that he tricked you into drinking his blood?"

She scoffs, the shock immediately fleeing her features as he brings up the damn bullet mess. "Yes! He convinced me he was going to die if I didn't suck the silver bullets out of him! The nerve!"

He laughs openly as they reach what used to be her yard, both with expressions of longing for when things were normal in their small southern town. "I think I get it though, why he tricked you at least. Levels the playing field, you know? I mean you exchanged blood with Bill shortly after you met, had his right off. At least this way you can see whether or not what you feel for Bill is real, or if it's all just his blood inside of you."

She pauses, the thoughts hadn't fully occurred to her yet, when Bill had explained what was going to happen to her now that she had tasted Eric's blood. If she was honest with herself, as much as she protested it at the time, it really wasn't as bad as she made it seem. It did give her a sense of clarity that she hadn't taken the time to register at the time. "Doesn't that mean you have his blood in you now too? I mean, that's how he helped you, isn't it?"

"It is. In fact it was one of the conditions he had for agreeing to help, it had to be his blood and not Bill's. Speaking of, where is Bill?" Sam glances around, not seeing the annoying dead man at present, but still fully aware of Eric's presence behind them.

She frowns, it only now dawns on her that she has no idea. He'd stopped her in the beginning, but she can't remember how or when he'd stopped protesting her involvement in trying to save Sam. "I don't know, one minute he was there and then… I don't know where he went. Bill?" She turns around to start calling for him, though not with the enthusiasm anyone would expect her to have.

"I believe I can answer that question." Eric says in an almost eerie tone, his accent coating his words in a way that warms Sookie's insides, though she would never admit as much. "Pam is currently detaining him, I couldn't risk him trying to talk Mr. Merlotte here out of our original plan, taking Bill's blood instead of mine to be specific."

"Why? Why does it matter to you so much if it is Bill's or yours? Expecting brownie points for it being yours or something?" Sookie interrogates him, untangling herself from Sam as she approaches the Viking.

"No, dear Sookie, I simply did not want Bill to have an excuse to taste you again. For one thing, it would unlevel the playing field, again. Two, it would put you at more of a risk, should there be any further problems tonight, unlikely as that may seem, but trouble does tend to find you." His crystal blue eyes stare into hers, the dark color reminding him of melted chocolate, as he longs to reach out and touch her. For the moment he resists the urge, the fire in her expression warning him that such a gesture might warrant another slap. While he enjoys her fire, he prefers not to be struck at this time.

His confession baffles her a little, her expression softening as he closes the distance while staring down at her. There's something about his expression, the way his hands are stuffed in the pockets of his slacks, that reminds her of the side of him she saw after Godric's death. "Why didn't you trick me again then? Make me think that you needed my blood instead?"

"That thought did occur to me, but as I said, I want to level the playing field. Right now we are on even ground, you and I. I believe if I taste you this will no longer be the case. Besides, when that time comes, I want it to be because you _want_ me to taste you, not out of necessity or a sense of obligation." He glances at the destruction done to her home because of the Maenad and frowns. "Did you live here alone, Sookie?"

The way he says her name causes her insides to churn, a fire to erupt, though she doesn't let on. "No, Tara moved in with me the day I left for Dallas. Why?"

"Let's find your friend, this place isn't presently fit for living. The two of you can stay with me until we can get your house repaired. I insist." He adds the insistence when he feels the start of her protest through the connection.

"Fine, only for tonight!" She agrees with obvious irritation, instantly stomping away from him as she goes to find Tara.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note**_

_Well, I know I have been absent from my writing for more than a year now. Life and writer's block have thoroughly kicked my butt. However, after making an attempt to find fanfics to read myself… and stumbling across ones I really like, only to find out the author has abandoned them or at least not updated in a very long time… I figured I would add this to each of my WIP stories and see which of my pieces my readers are most interested in me updating first. The one with the most reviews or emails by August 4__th__, will be the one I work on first, and then the one with the second most reviews/emails, etc. So, whichever one of my pieces you are receiving this from, let me know if you're still reading and anxious for an update! Thanks!_

_An American Mom_


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